Nigeria: Why Nigerian Passports, Visas Are Scarce
AllAfrica – 15 June 2022
Thousands of Nigerians in Diaspora and locally have applied, paid, and
been captured but are yet to be issued their international passport booklets,
along with foreign visitors seeking visas, continue to groan about the
difficulties associated with the process, findings by LEADERSHIP Sunday reveal.
This scarcity of booklets has been blamed the failure of the federal
government to grant a window to the Nigeria Immigration Service to utilise part
of the revenue generated in dollars and currencies from foreign embassies.
Worried by the scarcity, which they fear might last longer than
envisaged , the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) now patronises operators of
Bureaux De Change for forex to foot it bills and thus, produce the all
important travel documents, in line with its mandate.
Officially though, NIS denied turning to bureaux de change. The
spokesperson of the service, Amos Okpu, said, "NIS is a government agency,
it can't patronise bureaux de change for any forex transactions whatsoever.
"Remember that CBN monitors all transactions by government agencies
including NIS. Moreover, the TSA policy certainly cannot allow such
transactions for any government agency." He concluded.
LEADERSHIP Sunday however gathered that the shortage of passport
booklets which many users believe has come to stay, is due to the foreign
exchange policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) as it affects the
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Top sources at the ministry of interior and at the Immigration Service
who pleaded not to be named, revealed that despite generating billions of naira
through passports and visas issuance at its embassies, the federal government
has failed to grant the NIS a window to utilise part of the revenue its
generates from these embassies to boost production of booklets, thereby leaving
the service to source for funds elsewhere.
They revealed that, 'The NIS is handicapped. As it stands, it's the
local that takes care of the operations in the diaspora. The CBN is not giving
the NIS a window to foreign exchange. Monies paid in embassies go straight to
the CBN, with NIS getting nothing, except from its budgetary allocations. So,
the company supplying the booklets goes to bureaux de change to buy foreign
currencies for passports. It goes to bureau de change to buy dollars and
meanwhile, NIS has not increased the price. So, it will eat into NIS revenue,
because the printers will bring their bill and NIS has to pay them.
According to these sources who however, acknowledged that there are
several challenges associated with issuance of Nigerian passports and visas to
Nigerians in embassies, to frantically address the issue of scarcity, it will
require the intervention of both the executive and the legislature, because
apart from not getting some of the revenue generated, depriving the service of
adequate forex exchange is a major setback
They said, "A lot of people are suffering because of this. Some
Nigerians in Diaspora who returned to renew their passports dropped it and ran
back overseas to secure their jobs. Students studying overseas seem to be the
hardest hit because they return to school. This is very tough for them."
LEADERSHIP Sunday further learnt that the technical partner to the
Nigeria Immigration Service, Newworks Solution and Investment Limited and the
producers of the passport, Irish Smart Technology Nigeria, have been advocating
for the increase in the cost of the passports to enable them make profit, due
to naira depreciation.
Other informed sources also told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the major reason
why the passport booklets were scarce was because the producer of the
passports, Irish Technologies was allegedly owed money that run into millions
of dollars by NIS.
Experts, are however of the view that although these citizens in
Diaspora are not even complaining about the outrageous fees being charged, they
should be able to process and collect their passport within a reasonable time
as it is done in other countries.
A border security expert, Mr. Adadama Ifek said, "It is so sad that
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not giving the NIS a window to foreign
exchange. So, what do you expect if the company supplying the booklets goes to
bureau de change operators to buy foreign exchange for passports? Definitely,
it will eat into NIS revenue, because the printers will bring their bill and
NIS has to pay them. I strongly agree that this is the reason for the scarcity.
Recall the in 2021, the federal government, through the ministry of
interior, inaugurated the enhanced e-passport production centres and urged
Nigerians to stop patronising touts and switch to online application.
Though the minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbseola then, assured
stakeholders that new applicants would get their passports within six weeks
while renewal would not exceed three weeks passport application and payments
were being migrated to digital platforms, LEADERSHIP Sunday has observed that
applicants still patronise touts and unscrupulous officials in the hope to beat
the system and get expedited services.
Experts who believe that the Nigerian passport is the highest
affirmation of Nigerian citizenship, have further opined that it remains the
responsibility of the government to provide the passport without any stress,
within a reasonable period.
They said, '"Every Nigerian has the right to a Nigerian passport
and it is our responsibility to put it in the hands of anyone desirous of it
within the shortest possible time, without stress. The passport should be
available within a considerable time of a successful application. Where there
are issues, the applicant should be notified within 48 hours
They criticised the Nigerian Immigration Service for engaging
consultants to manage visa and passport-related matters at Nigerian missions
across the world.
Though efforts to get the image maker of the service to react to this
claim as at the time of filing this report proved abortive , LEADERSHIP Sunday
recalls that the minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola recently
acknowledged the pains of passports and visas seekers and empathised with
citizens- home and in the diaspora for the unintentional stress they encounter
while processing their passports in recent times. He was quoted to have said,
"Each time Nigerians express their anger and frustration on the government
over the inability of the passport offices to process their passports as
quickly as required, we truly feel saddened - hence, our resolve to address it
www.samigration.com
